The Commission on Elections has decided to avail of the option to purchase more than 80,000 PCOS machines used in the 2010 elections, for use in the coming 2013 elections. The purchase will cover only the hardware and software for the PCOS. Other services will have to be bidded out.
The decision came after several weeks of deliberation during which the Commission en banc engaged in exhaustive discussions of the merits and demerits of the offered option to purchase. The widely publicized views of various groups were considered in the decision making process as well. In the end, the Commission decided that with the 7 billion election budget being inadequate, and there being no legal impediments, the purchase of the PCOS machines could go ahead, provided that the COMELEC be assured that the necessary safeguards are put in place to address the concerns of the deal’s critics.